William T. Martin/courtesy of The Decatur Daily
DECATUR, Ala. — Two weeks ago at the
Arkansas
State Amateur, Henderson State senior Brice
Howard
was disappointed to post a final-round 78. In
hindsight, despite trailing by four entering the
the
last
day, Howard could have shot just 72 at the
Country
Club of Little Rock and captured his home state's
amateur championship by a stroke.
So when Howard, a native of Hot Springs,
won a
two-hole, three-way playoff at the Spirit of
America
Championship on Sunday afternoon at
Burningtree
Country Club, a bit of redemption was had.
"That was kind of going through my head a
little bit coming into the tournament," Howard
said of the missed opportunity at the Arkansas
State
Amateur two weeks earlier. "Going into the last
round, knowing what happened last time, I just
tried
to put myself in a good spot. I tried to really just
focus."
Howard posted rounds of 69 and 72 in the
first
two rounds to trail fellow playoff-mates Reed
Lindsey
and Jimmy Reist by two at the par-71
Burningtree
Country Club.
On the back nine of the final round, Howard
three-putted the par-5 16th hole and made a
disappointing par. Trailing by two, Howard
thought
he
may have lost his chance.
"On 16 I had an eagle putt and I three-
putted for par and that's when I kind of thought I
was
out of it," Howard said. "I knew I needed
to birdie the next two so I tried to play
aggressive."
|
Brice Howard
picked up
his biggest win
William T. Martin/courtesy of The Decatur
Daily
|
Reist made an unfortunate double bogey at
the
par-4 17th, while Lindsey made bogey. The trio
headed to 18 deadlocked at the top of the
leaderboard. Howard, who hadn't bogeyed since
the
eighth hole, made his fifth par in a row as the
group
headed back to 18 for a three-way playoff.
After all players parred the first hole, an up-
and-
down out of the bunker on the second playoff
hole
secured the win for Howard.
"It's probably the biggest win I've
got," Howard said. "I feel good."
The rain-shortened event, which had
Friday's
second round cancelled due to heavy rains and
lightning, was scheduled for 72 holes and was
being
defended by John-Michael O'Toole, a graduating
senior from the University of Cincinnati.
O'Toole, a native of Pinson, Ala., tied for
10th
place, shooting rounds of 69, 73, and 75 in his
attempt
to defend.
One of two runners-up, Reist of Decatur,
Ala., is
a
member at the host club and at 52-years-old,
would
have been an impressive winner at the 48th
running
of
the event.
Lindsey, a Delta State University senior
from
Ripley, Miss., got back into the tournament with
a
second-round 67 before posting 73 on the final
day.
ABOUT THE Spirit of America
The Spirit of America Golf Classic is Burningtree
Country Club's long-running, fundraising
tournament
held annually in conjunction with
Decatur’s Spirit of America Festival, which itself is
one
of the largest, free Fourth of July festivals in the
south. Established in 1967, this unique "college
team
and
individual" format event has been
home to collegiate players and top amateur
players
from across the nation. The format is 72-holes of
stroke play, with a 54-hole
collegiate team division. The "Spirit"
tournament boasts many top graduates, like 1995
Champion-turned-PGA tour player Heath Slocum,
and
1989 Junior Champion-turned-PGA tour player
Stewart
Cink.
Starting in 2020 the golf tournament will be a coed
event. The plan is to have 30 two-woman teams and
30 two-
man teams. The women’s teams will be invited and
not have to pay an entry fee.
View Complete Tournament Information